Basically, a friend of mine from the US is selling a 1st Gen iPhone 16GB. He has another buyer at the moment, but is looking for $50. I thought it was very cheap, and he has a reason as to why it is so low, it has a row of dead pixels. Now, he says the phone works in fine order, with the camera and everything working, it's just the pixels. My questions are:

Can the dead pixels be fixed, and if so, for how much roughly?

Would I be able to contact Apple for a repair (considering I would be buying this off the original owner, I'm unsure on this, hence why I ask)

Can the phone (from the US, coming to the UK if I buy it) be unlocked and so I can use it on any tariff? Would I be able to get a contract for it too?

Will the phone work in the UK with software such as iTunes, or will their be compatibility issues?

Now as you may assume, I'm pretty clueless on phones, but $50 seems a bargain, unless it isn't? It's just I've seen the same item going for £300-400 on eBay, so it seems a great deal. Any help would be great!

I can tell you right now that without a valid warranty Apple won't replace the screen for free. $50 is a steal for the device itself, provided everything else is working fine. Just remember that the phone will seem slow when downloading off of, or surfing, the web in comparison with the later models.

First generation iPhones are relatively easy to unlock, but that still depends on the current firmware that the device is operating on.

Do you reckon it would be best to replace the screen totally? I've seen it on ebay replacing screens for £100, and that doesn't seem too bad. Also, what is this new model, 3.0 something? Is it going to be a totally new addition which you have to buy or is it an update?

If you're going to choke up $150+ for the phone anyway I'd just go ahead and buy the newer iPhone 3G (or the second generation if you'd prefer). Apple has already reduced, or will be reducing, the price of the newer makes.

Yeah, I agree with beast. The new 3G S will be retailing for $200 (16GB, with contract). I don't know about the pricing for the UK, but it's probably better to buy it than to put all that effort into the old one.

1. Prepare to be ripped off.2. You guys are horrible with price conversion.

One suggestion I'd have is to buy an 8GB 3G from the US and have it shipped to you and unlock it there. You're planning on doing that anyways with your friend's one, right? You might as well pay 50 bucks extra and have a brand new one.

Order one from out of the country - like Magimaster said. But I'd definitely go for at least 16gb if you plan on jailbreaking the device and/or downloading apps from the app store. You'd be amazed at how quickly you can fill 8gb with a bit of music and a couple of decent apps.

1. Prepare to be ripped off.2. You guys are horrible with price conversion.

One suggestion I'd have is to buy an 8GB 3G from the US and have it shipped to you and unlock it there. You're planning on doing that anyways with your friend's one, right? You might as well pay 50 bucks extra and have a brand new one.

Problem is, I can't get it from the US Apple Store, as you have to register, which means your address too, which is an issue for me considering I'm from the UK. The only thing I could do is buy from a US Shop online, but I don't know many of them. =/

Ohh, I'd completely forgotten. They don't sell them individually anymore. So if you purchase it from the states, you'd have to have the AT&T contract with it regardless now. In that case, if you really want one, go for your friend's one (though imo it's not worth it) or you can wait for a bit after the 3G S is released and the prices for the old 3G should be down in Europe too.

I would recommend to look for more information on the iPhone 3G S though, specially if they sell it unlocked. It has been stated by the Dev Team that the only way to prevent Jailbreak (which is needed to unlock it as well) is to modify the iPhone hardware itself.

I'll probably just buy it from the UK then, but I'm going to wait a looooooong time. It just doesn't make any sense, why would the exact same product (32GB 3G S) be £180 in the US (or $299) but £530 in the UK? Am I wrong to think that's disgusting? I might phone them up and let them know that.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think the price is different in the countries. I believe it has something to do with AT&T itself in the US, regarding their data plans and the costumers' loyalty. I myself don't leave in the US, but it is pretty much what I have read.

There are like three grades of costumers.

The most loyal ones get it very cheap, the cheapest possible actually.

Those that haven't been long will get the second play, which is a bit more expensive than the first one.